A Friend For Life
by Krayt-Eagle
Summary: Ever wonder how Kris met Wildfire?...[takes place a year and a half before the pilot, 5 chapter oneshot]
1. 5:30

My first Wildfire Fanfic

**DISCLAIMER**-I own everything!... except for everything... don't sue please ;)

_Chapter 1_

_5:30_

"Permission to pass, ma'am?"

"Permission granted."

After passing the standard procedure, Kris Furillo crossed the gate and headed up towards the bus. The forecast showed cloudy skies for most of the day and chilly winds. It was early morning. Nice, bright, and _early_ morning.

'_This is so stupid' _Kris thought as she walked through the isle of the bus to get to her seat. _'Please, could someone tell me _why_ we need to wake up at 5:30 sharp, eat a stale breakfast, and take a quick cold shower in the morning at freakin' dead midpoint of winter just to see some stinkin' six-foot tall rodents with long legs?_ Kris mentally complained as she found her seat and sat down. Her jail mate, Courtney, had to literally drag Kris out of her bed this morning so they wouldn't be tardy for breakfast. Usually, the last person to show at the caff has to take care of laundry duties that week. Kris and Courtney lucked out and made it on time. Courtney celebrated by swiping an extra juice box from the counter, yet Kris, however, used the little energy she gained from sleeping into complaining. She was very good at complaining.

Which may have been the reason why she sat alone on the bus.

Making friends in jail isn't that easy.

Kris, openly, rude fully, yawned as the bus started up and inertia pulled her head back as the bus propelled forward.

Squinting at the tiny clock at the front of the bus, she guessed that it was a quarter past seven. Letting out a long, cranky sigh, she thought one thing as she let her eyes leisurely close...

'_This is gonna be a _long_ day…'_

_--_

Yes, quick, but I have chapter two ready to put up, just give me a moment.


	2. Split

_Chapter 2_

_Split_

--

"…at the Ranch! Everybody file up in the correct order by the bus!"

Kris's eyes popped open, realizing she fell asleep on the bus. Trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes, the sergeant's voice blared through her ears, "Let's move it Furillo!"

Kris, tired as she was, snapped out of her seat, robotically replied, "Yes, ma'am." and quickly filed out of the bus with the others.

Stepping off the bus, Kris noticed this was the first time she'd ever been on a ranch. It was also the first time she realized how _big_ it was.

Several scents washed over her. Many were flattering, and many were not. Kris wasn't used to this. She was used to the more claustrophobic places, like an alley in the city, or the compactness of her cell and such. This was by far different.

Kris lined up in alphabetical order, which for her was behind Courtney. It wasn't a long wait until everyone had filed out of the bus and into the line for a quick attendance check. The colored female sergeant in charge soon ran through the list of rules all must follow during their stay; stick with the group, don't touch anything unless they're told, listen to the speaker, be respectful… _'blah blah blah' _is how Kris's head translated the words.

Quickly getting bored with the sergeant's monotone voice, Kris began gazing around her surroundings. She saw stables, horses, workers, some stables, tools and equipment, and…

Unintentionally, her eyes locked with someone, a man walking a brownish-black horse to what she assumed was it's stall. Minus the lack of height, he looked to be in his thirties. His well-shaven goatee gave him a kind of roguish look along with his well-tanned skin. She could see his eyes stare back at her, under his cowboy hat, as if meeting her challenge.

"Furillo, did you hear me?"

Kris's head snapped back to the current situation. "Uh, wuh… yes, ma'am?" was the only response she could think of.

Thumbs hanging from her belt loops, the sergeant asked impatiently, "Can you state the last few words I said?"

Feeling the eyes of everyone on her, her cheeks flushed, "No, ma'am." She said just loud enough so she wouldn't have to repeat it.

Eyeing Kris, she asked, "Who can help out Ms. Furillo?"

One girl, short and in the front, raised her hand. The sergeant nodded to her.

"Ma'am, you stated that we'd be touring the stables, and we should walk in twos." She said, her voice a bit too acknowledging and proud.

"Very good, Haley." The sergeant nodded in approval and turned to lead the group.

"Suck-up…" Kris mumbled softly so only she could hear it. She looked back at to whom she was staring at before being distracted only to notice that he had left. _'Hmph,'_ she thought, _'the sucky sweatshirt labeled _Camp Lagrange_ probably scared him off.'_

Their single-file line separated into two shorter lines as the followed the sergeant and their tour-guide. Kris, now standing next to Courtney, overheard someone behind her. "Ok, count to five, we split."

That caused Kris to once in her step. _'Split? _Kris became horribly tempted to turn her head and see who spoke those words but strained to keep her neck straight. Mentally, though, she counted to five in her head. Nervously, Kris shoved her hands in her pockets and fidgeted with the pocket lints.

In a moment, Kris heard fast yet stealthy footsteps make a break for it from behind her. This time she couldn't help but turn her head. Two girls had runoff, then another went with them. Looking to her left, and realizing it was Courtney that went with them, Kris hesitantly checked and made sure her sergeant wasn't looking, and ran off after the three runaways.

--

**-To be honest, I'm not so sure if the person really is a 'sergeant' or not, but you know what I mean, right?**

**R&R please, I'll give you a virtual cookie.**


	3. InsideOut

_Chapter 3_

_Inside-Out_

_--_

Making her footsteps light and quick, Kris spared a moment to turn her head to see if anyone that was behind her in the line would tattle, but all they did was fill the gap in the line that she, Courtney, and the two other girls had occupied.

Setting her head forward again, she just caught a glimpse of Courtney running behind a set of stables.

Kris was quick to follow.

As she made her turn, she expected to see Courtney and the girls still running. But Kris froze as all she saw was farm workers ahead, fortunately with their backs to her. But that luck was running out as one of them slowly began to turn around…

Kris held her breath, _'How could I be caught now! This isn't fair! I didn't even plan on running away this time! It just... happened...' _And then she immediately felt the air leave her lungs as someone yanked at her arm and pulled her into an empty horse stall. The pull was powerful enough to nearly displace her arm as she and the puller fell onto the ground matted with hay.

"Kris! What are you doing?" The voice was spoken in a high-pitched whisper, and Kris recognized the voice belonged to Courtney.

"What am _I _doing?" Both girls got up, brushing themselves off. "The question is, what are _you _doing?"

"Keep quiet!" That voice Kris didn't recognize. In the far corner of the stall were the two girls that ran off before Courtney. Kris saw them hastily taking off their sweatshirts, then noticed her roommate doing the same. "We're getting outta here. I've worked with horses before, I know how to ride well enough to get away." The three girls had their sweatshirts off and were burying them under the hay, then they began pulling their Camp Lagrange shirts over their heads. Kris's eyes widened as they did this.

"Um, hello? Guys? It's freakin' winter!"

"Well, that's why we're doin' it _fast_." Kris noticed them flip the shirt inside out and put it back over their heads. "If you're comin', I suggest you get started."

Kris unzipped the top of her sweatshirt, though reluctantly, and asked, "Why, what are we doing."

"God girl, hurry up!" Courtney blasted nearly too loud. "I know its cold, but the sweatshirt is labeled Camp Lagrange, and we can't fix that. The shirt is labeled Camp Lagrange, but we _can_ fix that by wearing it inside out so no one would notice we're escaping prison girls." All three girls now had their shirts on inside out and were watching Kris impatiently as she got her sweatshirt off. "I'll bury that for you, now c'mon, move it! It doesn't take long for them to notice we're gone."

Kris, self-consciously, turned her back from them and pulled her shirt over her head.

"So, do you know how to ride?" One girl asked.

Feeling the bitter air grip her newly exposed skin, Kris worked quickly to get her shirt back on. "How hard could it be?"

She turned back towards them slipping her shirt on inside out, and backwards, which was done by accident. The girls stared at her. "Well, if you fall, you're on your own."

That wasn't exactly the encouraging response she wanted to hear.

Courtney glanced at one of them, "Where to now, Jackie?" Jackie was a short blonde girl, just a trifle overweight. Jackie crept over toward the entrance of the stall and peeked out. Kris assumed that it was her who schemed up this plan. After a moment, she nodded her head towards them, "It's clear." Courtney, the other girl, and Kris followed Jackie out.

Walking through one of the many stables on the farm, this one wasn't quite so abandoned of horses, at least. Kris noticed that they were nice, tall, yet somewhat smelly animals. She didn't have long to speculate them, for now they were at the edge of the stable and Jackie was checking their surroundings.

This time, we waited longer.

And longer.

And longer.

Patience was something Lagrange has failed to force upon her. "Is it clear yet?"

Courtney glared at her. "Shh!"

Then the crackle of straw from behind them made all the girls turn their heads.

"Hey! What you doin' ova there!" A man yelled.

"Run!"

--

**Ok, no reviews yet...**

**I'll give you _two_ virtual cookies, then, if you review **;)


	4. Run

_Chapter 4_

_Run_

--

"Run!" Kris heard Jackie. All three girls sprang up and went for it. Kris, though delayed, ran off behind them. She could here the man screaming behind them. It wasn't long that she regretted running out of the stable into the open where plenty of workers were. Some didn't really know what was going on and ignored them, others just watched with confusion, yet a number got the idea after seeing their co-worker chasing after the girls to help him out.

Courtney, panting, yelled, "Split up!" And easily, the three split up, making Kris feel abandoned and stupid for getting into this situation in the first-place. She turned her head, and noticed two men were chasing her.

She picked up speed.

Making a sharp turn, another choice to add to her list of regrets, Kris made her way through a wave of people and workers to lose her pursuers.

However, sprinting and bumping into people in a slow moving crowd tends to bring attention. She could hear her trackers yell after her for help. Kris spared a moment to look back at her pursuers, and was glad to know her fast speed was creating a distance between them. As she put her head forward she saw someone from her left try to grab her arm. Kris, who spun her body towards her opponent, gripped their arm and yanked it towards the ground, causing the person to go smack into the dirt. Kris, admiring her takedown, looked back to her original pursuers, only to notice they were merely a few yards from her.

Kris pivoted and ran like she'd never run ever again.

Panting, sweating, and legs fueled by adrenaline, Kris knew she needed to find a hidden spot to rest. Turning her head for she hoped would be the last time; she saw that her speed and endurance put a great distance between her and her pursuers. Making a sharp turn into a luckily employee-abandoned open-roofed stable, Kris collapsed in and behind an open stall, gasping for breath. It only took a mere few moments until she heard the men chasing her run down between the stalls, thinking that she ran all the way through to the other side. Waiting for her heart to calm down, Kris closed her eyes and laid her head against the stall. Taking in deep breaths, Kris thought of the other girls, whether they were caught or not, or whether her group had noticed her absence yet, or…

Some strange rumbling noise right in front of Kris's face made her jump. Eyes springing open, Kris realized she wasn't in the stable alone.

Slowly looking up, she noticed a very large muscled horse towering over her, providing her shade. With protesting muscles, Kris slowly stood up, staring very uncomfortably at the horse. It began to bring its head close to hers, breathing on her for a moment, allowing Kris to smell its horse breath.

"Ew, could it hurt to use a breath mint?" Kris asked, not really expecting a response as she looked around the door to see if the coast was clear.

Except, the horse did respond in its own, rumbling voice, nodding its head up and down. Kris returned her attention to the horse in a little bit of shock, thinking, _'Did he just understand me?' _Footsteps from outside, however, made Kris remember that she was hiding. Thinking that a loud horse would attract attention, Kris tried to quiet it. "Shhh, quiet, boy! Or, girl… never did get a good look. C'mon, I'll give you something nice if you're quiet." Kris whispered, yet the horse didn't do so. It kept nodding its head up and down, not violently, though, which was a good thing for Kris. Thinking that petting it might help quiet the thing, Kris reached out, then took her hand back, then reached out again, and retracted her hand back. _'C'mon, Kris, just suck it up, and maybe you won't have to be behind bars again.'_

With that thought, Kris slowly reached out, with one finger, and touched the horse. _'Ok, not so bad… now what?'_ Kris stood there for a moment, one finger on the horse's nose, and not moving. She was still, and things were quiet.

'_Quiet… quiet! No footsteps! Ok, dodged that bullet…'_

Kris, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, pulled her finger back down to side. Then she heard something.

It wasn't quiet.

It wasn't footsteps.

It was laughing.

Someone had witnessed Kris's first attempt to touch a horse.

--

**Hmm, apparently no one wants a vitual cookie as of yet.**

**Well, I have 40 hits so far, so I'm guessing that _somebody_ has an interest in the story.**

**And if anybody's interested in a music video for Wildfire on youtube, check the bottom of my profile. Low quality clips, but the ending comes out pretty nice.**


	5. First Impressions

_Chapter 5_

_First Impressions_

_---_

Cheeks beaming, Kris's neck snapped to where the laughing noise was coming from.

Not even two feet from her was an amused man leaning on the entrance to the stall. Letting his laughter die off, he asked, "First time you touched a horse?"

Kris didn't know how to react. He didn't look like the men that were chasing her, but he did look somewhat familiar… _'Wait. Dark eyes, well-tanned skin, in his thirties, well-shaven goatee…'_

"I remember you." The guy made an interested look at her. "You were the guy that was staring at me after I…" _'got off the bus? Shoot! I just gave away the fact that I tried to escape from Camp! Stupid!' _Kris mentally slapped herself. _'Maybe he won't notice…'_

"Hmm, I say fight fire with fire." He walked into the stall casually. "You were staring first." Kris cringed. So far, she despised this guy, though liked him at the same time for not turning her in.

'_Yet.' _She thought grimly.

Kris watched him as he walked towards the horse and began stroking its back. "I see you met Wildfire." She made no response to him, but she couldn't keep her eyes off that horse, now. _'Wildfire.' _She thought, examining the horse all over, taking in all details. His leg muscles were well toned and defined, with a white patch like the shape of a raindrop just north of his mud-brown eyes. The way the sun shined off his brown shaded shell made him look golden, somehow. _'Now, Wildfire, that name fits you just perfectly.'_ Unconsciously, Kris allowed half-a-smile to appear on her face.

The man noticed, and she wiped it away instantly and cleared her throat. "I, um,… I just kinda got lost, so, so I should get back probably right about—"

"Have you ever pet a horse before?" He had a deep voice, she noticed.

"Well, no." Kris figured she wouldn't be getting out of this situation that easily.

The man walked to the forefront of the horse, easily gliding his hand up and down the side of the horse's jaw. "It's pretty simple; just let your hand glide over their skin." He watched as Kris reached out slowly, _dramatically _slowly, to touch the horse. "They don't bite."

Kris looked him in the eye.

"Hard."

After that little joke, he gave her a reassuring smile, and she touched the horse.

This time, with all her fingers, and began stroking him. Eventually, she pressed her palm up to his warm skin, rubbing back and forth. Kris didn't notice herself as she stepped forward, closer to the horse. She heard Wildfire softly rumble a hum, as if saying he took pleasure in her touch.

After a moment, Kris stopped and stepped back, not of fear this time, though.

For the first time in a long, long while, Kris felt happy.

And a little bit light-headed.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Kris… Furillo. I'm a part of Camp Lagrange." Part of her expected to see a reaction of him, like a step-back or a boat load of questions or something. But all he did was nod.

"I'm Pablo Betart. I work part-time here, and part-time at another ranch." _'Pablo,…'_ absorbing in the name, Kris just had a feeling in her gut that this guy would somehow be a part of her life by some means. "So, you said you're from Lagrange?" he asked.

'_Oh-boy, now here comes the 20 questions…' _She thought sourly. "Yes, sir."

"They discipline you there, right?"

"Yes, sir." She repeated.

Pablo, tipping his head to the side like a confused dog, said, "Well, I didn't know they needed to discipline girls on how to put their shirts on not inside out," noticing the tag sticking out at the top of her shirt below her chin, he added, "…and backwards."

Cheeks flooding pink, Kris now found her sneakers quite fascinating at the moment. "Yeah, me too." She said shyly. Eventually her eyes were able to come up and meet his. This time, they weren't staring at each other as strangers.

"Fix your shirt." He said, beginning to put reigns on Wildfire, "I'm teaching you and your camp group to learn how to ride in half-an-hour."

"You're part of the Camp Lagrange tour?" Kris asked, a little surprised.

"Yep." He nodded as he finished gearing up Wildfire, "Now c'mon, fix your shirt."

Noticing him respectfully turn around, Kris realized he meant _now_, and she began to pull off her shirt. Cool air striking her skin yet again, she worked quickly to pull her shirt inside out. She felt Wildfire's noise rub against her bare shoulder and jumped, causing Pablo's head to turn back to check on her for a second, then his head immediately snapped back when he noticed she wasn't done.

After a minute, Pablo felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Ready." She stated.

"Good." Pablo turned around and saw her shirt on with the bold words 'Camp Lagrange' labeled on the front. "Very good." He said again as he led her and Wildfire out of the stall.

"You didn't peek as I was changing, did you?" Kris teased, looking at him with a smile.

There was a slight pause. "No." Something about the way he walked made Kris feel a little uneasy at the moment, but she pushed it aside.

"So, I guess you'll be telling the sergeant of my—"

"You got lost looking for the bathroom, that's all."

Kris looked at him in surprise as they walked. _'Is he trying to cover for me?'_ "But-but you know I—"

"You ran into me, I helped you out. In return, you get to ride Wildfire first to demonstrate." He interrupted her again, "Clear?"

Kris, meeting his eyes, saw only comfort. Something she doesn't really see in too many people in her life. "Yes, sir." Mentally thanking him, Kris smiled, and then fell back a few steps to walk with Wildfire. Stroking his mane, Kris thought back to an original thought she had had on the bus ride here;

_Making friends in jail isn't that easy._

Well, perhaps she was wrong.

---

**And that's how I think Wildfire, Kris, and Pablo met.**

**Hope you like it.**


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